


Your Personal Guard

by TiredPandaBoy



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Add tags as I go, F/F, Season 3 Spoilers, Slow Burn, The General - Freeform, explicit for later chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-22 19:10:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21307160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiredPandaBoy/pseuds/TiredPandaBoy
Summary: Adora has been appointed Queen Glimmer's new personal guard due to past events of Glimmer being captured by the Horde many times. And while at first she hates the idea of having someone at her side twenty-four hours of the day, she slowly starts to realize that having some close company isn't as bad as she thought it would be.
Relationships: Adora/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 73





	Your Personal Guard

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not used to making anything other than one shots, so my version of slow burn might only be a few chapters. I'm still working on "She-Ra Fic Ideas" I just needed a break to write something a little softer. I'm also trying to balance time for drawing, and daily life so bear with me!

"Queen Glimmer!" Glimmer turned around to see her General jogging up to her, "May I have a word with you, your Majesty?"

Glimmer sighed, "Is it important? I’m supposed to meet with Bow and Adora to discuss our next attack on the Horde." She had been walking down one of the main hallways of the castle when her General spotted her.

Her General stood in front of her and bowed, "That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about." She straightened up and took on a serious exterior. "Your Majesty, if I may..? After the things that happened in the past, with you being captured and tortured by the Horde, then almost being captured again when you were in the Crimson Waste… It has come to my attention that you must have a guard by your side at all times, so we can prevent this from happening... for a third time."

Glimmer suppressed a snort. "You must be joking!" Her guard didn't waver. That made her nervous, "You're serious..? This is ridiculous!" Glimmer fumed and stomped her foot. "Do you know who you're talking to? I've fought on the front lines! I’ve helped defend Brightmoon from invasions! I have magic powers that I can use to defend myself!” She crossed her arms, and turned up her nose. “I don't _need_ a babysitter." The little Queen steeled herself, glaring at her General dead in the eyes, daring her to repeat those words.

The general stayed calm, expecting this reaction. "Your Majesty, that doesn't change the fact that you are a Queen now. Your people need you. If you get captured now, the whole of Brightmoon will be thrown into chaos.” Glimmer turned away with a huff, but the General continued. “Before, you were just a Princess. In the Horde’s eyes you were only a tool for extortion. You were just a potential hostage to be used to barter for your mother's kingdom.” Glimmer’s shoulders stiffened at the mention of her mother. “Now it's your kingdom. If they capture you, they won't just torture you. They'll kill you and take Brightmoon by force." Glimmer’s jaw tensed and her fists clenched with anger, but she knew there was truth in those words.

She forced herself to calm down, "Maybe you're right…" Glimmer admitted begrudgingly. She thought about the proposal carefully. _‘Maybe Bow could…’_

The head guard smiled, and nodded, "I would be more than happy to be your perso-"

"Hey Glimmer!" Adora called out as she ran up to them, oblivious to the tension in the air. "You're late for-” She paused when she saw the General with her. “Oh, sorry!” She quickly saluted, respectfully. “I didn't realize you were with someone."

"Adora!" Glimmer was actually relieved to see her. As much as she appreciated the General, she definitely didn't want to be stuck with a stuffy goody toe shoes twenty-four seven. She still wanted some freedom! "Adora will be my guard!"

"I will?" Adora asked, nonplussed.

"She will?" The General blanched at the suggestion.

Glimmer nodded, "Who better to protect the Queen, than the mighty She-Ra? She's the symbol of peace! And she can turn into an eight foot tall warrior lady! She’s more than capable of being my personal guard."

Her guard seemed disappointed in this decision but couldn't really argue with that logic. "But she-" The guard hesitated then spoke a little quieter to glimmer, "Not to upset you, my Queen... But wasn't she the one who let Queen Angella be left behind."

“That’s-!” Glimmer started, feeling anger pit in her belly, but she was cut off by Adora’s arm pushing her back.

"It would be an honor to protect my Queen." She interrupted firmly, her features turned stone. To anyone who didn’t know Adora, they would probably assume she was angry, but Glimmer could see the pain etched into her expression. The General met her gaze, a cold look behind her eyes, but Adora stared back with determination. "I would protect her with my life." There was conviction in those words. "Queen Angella chose to sacrifice herself to save us… All of us... And I couldn't stop her." Her voice wavered a little, but she composed herself. "I won't let that happen again. I won’t let anything bad happen to Glimmer."

‘_Give me a chance to show you I’m not worthless._’ She stood tall, and challenged the Guard to deny her.

The General, held her stare. She saw herself in Adora; a young mercenary who wanted nothing more than to prove herself. It wasn’t so long ago when she was fighting for the chance to prove herself to her own Queen Angella. She sighed, feeling her resolve crumble. "Fine. But if you let even a single horde soldier get near her-"

"I would have to be dead for that to happen." There was no hesitation, and that made Glimmer worried. It scared her.

The General nodded, and turned to the Queen, who stood a little taller under the attention. "As for you, your Majesty, I trust you will do your best to stay guarded and not put yourself in any immediate danger."

"Of course." How true that statement was, was uncertain.

"You have a meeting later this evening. I expect to see you both there. Adora…" The General stood in front of her, "Don't leave her side for even a second."

Adora nodded, "Yes, ma'am." and gave a deep bow.

Glimmer clapped her hands together, interrupted the tension. "Okay! Now! If you'll excuse us! We also have a meeting to attend right now!" She grabbed Adora by the wrist and dragged her away.

\---

"So, Adora is your guard now?" Bow asked while he munched on some chips. "I figure you would've asked for me?"

They were all in Glimmer’s room discussing "war plans" which, in reality was just them playing card games while stuffing their faces. Adora had stepped out after the General showed up to give her some tips on how to be a personal guard.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I thought of you too, but Adora was in the right place at the right time!" She sighed dramatically and pressed her face into the pillow she was laying on.

"No, no! I don't mind actually. I'm too busy with my inventions, and organizing the princesses. Since you're Queen now, and Adora is usually busy with She-Ra training, I'm stuck with making sure all the princesses are happy and doing their part to protect the lands." He put his cards down and took another chip, "Not that I mind." He said between his chewing.

“Right… But I’m worried that I might have made a mistake asking Adora.” She met Bow’s eyes, but kept her frown hidden behind the pillow.

“Why would you think that?” He seemed genuinely curious.

She furrowed her brows, “Because she’s taking it so seriously. I think… I think she still feels guilty about what happened to my mom.”

Bow stopped eating, and set down the bowl of chips, having lost his appetite. “Oh.” They both sat in silence the air still feeling awkward under the topic. “And you’re worried she might put herself in danger to protect you?”

Glimmer nodded and pulled the pillow closer, tears welling in her eyes. Bow got up and walked over to her. He knelt beside her and opened his arms. She gladly abandoned her pillow to hug him. “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt, Bow.” A few tears escaped her. “She said she would die before she let a Horde soldier get to me!” She pulled back from him so she could look him in the eyes, “Do you know how clumsy, and reckless I am!? She won’t last a day with me!”

Bow smiled, and laughed openly, “Yeah you are kind of an idiot.” He pulled her back into the hug.

“Not helping.” She mumbled into his shoulder.

“_But,_ Adora won’t let herself die that easily. She’ll be trying so hard to stay alive, so she can keep protecting you! She’s not as reckless as you think.” He squeezed her tighter, “Give her a little more credit.” Glimmer stared at the wall thoughtfully. Bow was probably right. “I mean she’s not an idiot like you.”

“That’s it!” Glimmer grabbed her pillow and hit him in the side with it. They devolved into having a pillow fight, laughing and playing like the old days. It helped ease Glimmer’s worries… a little.

\---

"You know I was the Queen’s personal guard." The General mentioned as they walked down the halls of the castle. They were on their way to the war room so she could give Adora a run down of the rules that go with being a personal guard, but the air was a little stiff with tension so the General started to regale Adora about her old adventures.

Adora looked up at her a little surprised. "Wait, you were?" She seemed confused, "But weren’t you too busy leading the rest of the guards?"

She nodded, "Yes, that _is_ a part of my duties as the General… But being the Queen’s personal guard comes first. I always tried to be nearby. To always be within eyesight of her so that at a moments notice I could protect her.” She stared ahead, but her gaze was somewhere else… Somewhere in the past. “But there were times when I accidentally let her out of my sight. And I suffered the consequences for it.”

Adora didn’t know what to say to that, so she just continued to follow.

“Queen Angella… She was an older, wiser woman. She knew not to go looking for trouble, so I knew I could let her have a bit of freedom occasionally. You don’t have such a luxury with Queen Glimmer.” She stopped and turned to Adora. Her expression suddenly serious. “No, the young Queen is very headstrong. There will be times when she will tire of being followed, and may even try to deter you by saying mean things… But you mustn't waver. Stay strong for her sake. For all of Brightmoon’s sake, you must not let her words get to you.”

The General’s expression darkened. “I’ve seen what the Horde can do. I know they’ll kill. I’ve seen it first hand. I’ve lost so many because I couldn’t protect them.” Adora knew exactly how that felt. When Glimmer and Bow were captured by the Horde, she felt like she had failed them. Even after she got them back, she felt so guilty she couldn’t eat or sleep properly for weeks. “And they know that Glimmer is a young and inexperienced Queen. You can count on them trying to extort that.”

Adora looked stressed out by this. She tried to calm herself but that was easier said than done. “How do I know that she won’t hate me for trying to protect her? (_Like Catra..._) I don’t want Glimmer to hate me (_too_)...”

The General smiled, and continued down the hall, Adora following closely behind. “She won’t hate you. She may say that at times… But there is no better reward than being able to see her smile everyday.” Her eyes were distant again, but she caught herself and cleared her throat. “No, she won’t hate you. How could she hate you for trying to keep her safe?”

Adora thought about this. “But won’t she be mad? Glimmer hates being treated like a damsel in distress.”

The General shook her head, “She’ll grow to appreciate the attention. Trust me Adora.” They finally arrived at the war room but stopped at the door. “Things will be different between you two sure. You won’t be just her friend anymore, you’ll be the only person she can trust with all of her secrets. The only person she can truly trust to always be there for her.” She placed a hand on Adora’s shoulder. “You’ll be closer than ever.”

\---

Adora rolled out her sleeping bag on the floor of Glimmer’s room. “Adora, aren’t you taking this personal guard thing a little too seriously?” Glimmer was hanging her head off the side of her elevated bed watching Adora settle in.

“Not at all.” She placed her sword against the wall, and climbed into her bed, already in her sleeping clothes. “Protecting you is the most important thing to me right now.”

Those words made Glimmer both happy and distressed. “Right, but… You won’t let yourself get hurt trying to protect me right?”

Adora shrugged, and laced her arms behind her head. “Getting a little hurt won’t stop me from making sure you’re safe. The General was right, you’re too important to Brightmoon. I won’t let them capture you again.”

Glimmer climbed back onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling.

“And… You’re too important to me too.”

Glimmer blushed. Even though she couldn’t see it, Adora was blushing too. “Adora…”

“Yeah, Glimmer?”

A silence stretched out across the room, and Adora started to wonder if Glimmer had heard her. “I don’t want to lose any more family…” Adora felt a wave of uneasiness run though her. “And that includes you, Adora. So please don’t let yourself get killed for my sake.”

Another silence. “I’ll try.”

\---

The next day… Was a challenge. Glimmer quickly realized that having someone around you all the time gets old, really fast. Adora was there when she woke up, when she ate breakfast, when she had to go to the bathroom! Glimmer had to command her to stand outside just so she could have a moment of privacy! It’s really hard to _go_ when you know someone is standing right outside the door!

Thankfully, right now all she had to do was listen to her subjects tell her about the problems in Brightmoon. Adora stood next to the throne, but she didn’t mind it right now since she wasn’t in her way. Glimmer thought about how she was going to deal with this. There had to be some way to get away from Adora for a little while that didn’t include going to the bathroom.

She waved off the last civilian, and stood up to head to her next meeting. Adora quickly stood by her side, and accompanied her as she walked out of the throne room. It was an awkwardly silent journey down the sparsely populated halls. Glimmer sighed, “Adora this is too weird. I’m not used to you acting so formal around me.”

Adora hesitated for a moment. “I know… I’m not used to it either, but this is really important to me.”

Glimmer stopped and glared at Adora. “But do you really have to be with me every second of the day?”

Adora looked confused, “Of course! What if someone sneaks into the castle and tries to assassinate you!”

Glimmer didn’t look amused. “Adora… When was the last time anyone sneaked into the castle.”

“Shadow Weaver.”

Glimmer flinched. She had forgotten about that. “But she was caught immediately.”

“Yeah! By me! Because she was trying to sneak up, and potentially kill me!”

“Oh come on! Now you’re just being dramatic! I can protect myself!” She stomped her foot, “I don’t need someone to babysit me!”

Adora stood firm. She took a deep breath before starting again, “Glimmer I know you hate this. I don’t like this anymore than you do. I know it’s bothering you… But I need to be here to protect you.”

“I don’t need to be protected!” Glimmer didn’t say anything more, she just turned and stomped off toward the war room. Adora sighed, her chest feeling a little heavier, and followed Glimmer.

\---

“Horde soldiers!” Frosta yelled, and sent an ice blast flying in the direction of the enemies. Perfuma and Mermista raced towards the enemies, while Bow stood at a distance and started firing off arrows.

“Glimmer, stay here!” Adora ordered, “For the honor of Grayskull!”

A flash of white temporarily obscured Glimmer’s vision. “You’re crazy if you think I’m going to sit back and let you do all the work!” She teleported into the battle, and heard She-Ra groan in the distance. Glimmer delivered a few good hits, on two Horde soldiers before She-Ra finally met back up with her.

“Glimmer come on! You know I’m just doing my job!” She transformed her sword into a shield, and used it to bash an enemy in the head.

“Yeah? Well your job annoys me!” Glimmer kicked another enemy in the side, and punch him with a fist full of sparkles, effectively taking him down.

“You were the one who hired me!” She threw back, as she blocked a baton from thrusting at Glimmer.

Glimmer blinked away for a moment before phasing in over the horde soldier, kicking him in the side of the head. “But only because I thought you would be cool about it!” She stood on her toes in front of She-Ra definitely while there was a lull in the battle. “I can protect myself!”

“Hey, Adora!” Catra leapt on top of She-Ra and knocked her to the side of Glimmer. “Been a while hasn’t it?”

“Catra!” She-Ra swung a large fist at her former friend but she was quick and jumped out of the way.

“Surprised to see me?” The magicat hissed, and stood on guard.

She-Ra was back on her feet now and also took up a defensive position. “That’s an understatement. I didn’t expect you to show your face around her ever again after what you did.”

Catra let out a hearty laugh, “Why? Because you thought I’d feel bad about getting your Queen stuck in some other dimension? This is the perfect time for me to strike, idiot.”

They heard an angry yell, and Catra ducked out of the way as a glowing fist swung by her chin. “Glimmer!” She-Ra called out angrily. “Get out of here! It’s too dangerous!”

But Glimmer couldn’t hear her. She was too blinded by her rage. “You evil- Son of a-!” Every swing missed, as Catra danced around her.

“Aww, did I hurt Sparkles feewings?” She laughed, and jumped over Glimmer, before kicking her to the ground. “News flash, I don’t care.” She was about to slash Glimmer across the chest, but only scratched the dirt as She-Ra dove in and grabbed the little Queen, rolling out of the way just in time.

“Glimmer! Are you okay?” She-Ra asked, but Glimmer only tried to push her off unsuccessfully.

“Get off me! I can handle myself!”

“Aww, lover’s quarrel?” Catra taunted, before lunging towards them. Glimmer teleported them out of reach and managed to squeeze out of She-Ra’s grip.

She ran at Catra and swung again, this time skimming her shoulder fur.

Catra turned on her heel and shoved her elbow into Glimmer’s stomach knocking the wind out of her. She crumpled to the ground, and took a kick to the side of the head, effectively knocking her unconscious.

The last thing she saw was She-Ra rushing in.

\---

Glimmer groggily blinked her eyes open. It felt like she had been hit by a truck. She looked around and realized she was in her bed. She felt something shift beside her, and found Adora sleeping next to her. She was facing Glimmer, and had a sheathed knife hugged to her chest. Glimmer ran a hand through her hair, but caught on a bandage which tugged at an injury. “Ow!”

Adora jolted awake, and unsheathed her knife, “What’s wrong! Who’s there!” She was still heavy with sleep.

Glimmer stayed calm and made Adora lower the knife. “Put that away. It’s just me.”

“Glimmer!” Adora was fully awake now, she wrapped her arms around Glimmer and held her tight. “Thank Gods you’re okay!”

“I’m okay but bruised.” She coughed out. Adora let her go and smiled apologetically. Glimmer felt her head throb. “What happened?”

Adora’s expression fell. “Catra… She knocked you out. I only just barely managed to get you out of there before she did any real damage.”

“Did you stop the horde soldiers?” Glimmer asked.

Adora didn’t answer at first, “No. We retreated.” She knew Glimmer would be upset by this. “Bow and I made the order. We needed to make sure you were okay.”

Glimmer looked over her bruised and cut up body. Most of her wounds were bandaged, and the ones that weren’t were already healing up well. It helped that her body naturally healed faster due to her magic. She looked at Adora, but her wounds were already completely healed thanks to She-Ra. “What about Catra?” She asked, while rubbing one of the bandages.

“She got away too.” Adora didn’t look happy about it. “Bow is already planning another attack with the princesses as we speak.”

Glimmer nodded and stretched her arms, “Then we’d better go join them.” She teleported them down to the floor.

“No.” Adora stood in front of Glimmer.

“What do you mean no?” She scowled.

Adora put a hand on Glimmer’s shoulder, “I mean you barely managed to get away without serious injury, and you’re still recovering from it right now!” She crossed her arms, “You need to rest. They can handle it without us.”

Glimmer stomped her foot like she always does when she’s furious, “You can’t tell me what to do! I’m the Queen!” Glimmer hated using the fact that she was a Queen now to get something she wanted, but Adora was being unreasonable!

“The General told me to protect you!” Adora yelled back.

“How many times do I have to tell you!? I don’t need you to protect me!”

Adora’s body was tense with aggravation, “You’re underestimating the horde! You’re underestimating Catra! They will stop at nothing to get what they want!”

Glimmer groaned and growled, “I’m more than capa-” Suddenly the room was spinning and she felt lightheaded.

“Glimmer!” Adora caught her before she could hit the ground.

\---

“She’ll be fine. But she needs to keep resting.” Perfuma took her hand off of Glimmer’s forehead. 

After Glimmer passed out, Adora had laid her on the couch by the window before ordering a guard to get Bow. Adora stayed by Glimmer’s side until he arrived. He brought Perfuma with him, and after hearing about what happened, the other princesses followed.

“Thank you Perfuma.” Adora sighed, relieved. She was sitting on the couch next to Glimmer’s unconscious body.

“Why was she even out of bed?” Frosta asked angrily. “Aren’t you supposed to be watching her?” She was only yelling because she was worried about Glimmer. Adora knew that but it still hurt.

“I-I was!” She defended, “It’s not my fault she can teleport! I can’t control her...” She frowned, and looked down at Glimmer. ‘It _is_ my fault that she got hurt in the first place, though.’ Adora sighed, and pressed her face into her hands. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Bow placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. “You’re doing your best.”

“But that’s not good enough! As her personal guard, I’m responsible for protecting her! I’m She-Ra! If I can’t even protect her from a few Horde soldiers, then what good am I?” She stood up, making Bow back off, “How am I supposed to protect all of Etheria if I can’t even protect her? If I couldn’t even protect-” She caught herself and stopped talking, opting to stare at her feet instead. She was getting her feelings of guilt mixed up, and she wasn’t talking about Glimmer anymore. “I’m just… Under a lot of pressure.”

The princesses looked concerned, and Frosta apologized. “I’m sorry. I know you’re doing what you can.”

Even Mermista, who isn’t good with “feelings”, was empathetic. “We’re all worried about her, Adora.”

Perfuma chimed in too, “After what happened with Angella, and Glimmer being appointed Queen at such a young age… We all just want her to be happy again.”

Frosta kicked at the ground, “I know what it’s like to have to rule over a whole kingdom by yourself. I may not be old enough to be a queen yet, but I know better than anyone how taxing it can be to hold such a big responsibility.”

“You can’t just command Glimmer to do something she doesn’t want to. She’s too stubborn for that. She wants to fight, and go back to how things were, but that’s not an option anymore.” Bow said firmly. “Adora you have to make sure she stays out of trouble for the sake of the kingdom. That’s no easy task, but we know if anyone can do it, you can.” Bow took Adora’s hand, “I’ve been Glimmer’s friend for as long as I can remember. She’ll calm down. It’s a lot for her to take in. Just... give her some time.”

Adora sat back down, “I need to be alone for a little while. Thank you... For helping me with Glimmer, but please leave us for now.” They all nodded and began to leave.

Bow stopped at the door and turned back to Adora, “It’s okay to make mistakes. No one can be perfect all the time.” He shot her a heartwarming smile and closed the door behind him.

Adora looked down at Glimmer, and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. She couldn’t afford to make mistakes. Not when there was so much at stake. She stood up and walked over to her sword. “For the honor of Grayskull.” She transformed, and held the sword in front of her. “I need to get stronger.” Adora was going to train harder than ever to protect Glimmer.

Little did Adora know, Glimmer had been awake ever since Frosta yelled. She watched as She-Ra thrust her sword at an imaginary enemy, and thought about what Bow said earlier.

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh, I hope you all like this story so far! I got this idea as I was going to bed about a week ago and immediately wrote it down in my notes! I have a lot of She-Ra story ideas in my notes... The next chapter probably won't have smut but they will start to notice their feelings for each other. <3<3 I love you guys! Oh! And enjoy the new season of She-Ra tomorrow!!


End file.
